Is the start of the calendar year a good time to set goals in the form of New Year's Resolutions? Research indicates that only 8% of people who set such resolutions keep them.

I'll leave it to the psychologists to discuss the many reasons why people fail to keep their resolutions, but I have four observations that I believe contribute to this:

The strategies and/or the tactics to implement the goals are too abstract.

People set too many goals and because of this their energy, time, and focus becomes dissipated.

The perceived outcomes are not valuable enough to the goal setter.

Too often people do not have others who are impacted by the outcome holding them accountable, assisting, and providing encouragement.

I'd like to suggest a New Year's Resolution that every business owner would benefit from: building a more marketable and valuable business. For most business owners their company is their largest asset, and making a change that increases the value by just 10% would have a large impact on their personal net worth. However, an effort to simply increase a business' value and marketability is not really all that concrete, is it? How do you know how valuable and marketable the business is to begin with? How do you measure progress and know if you have attained the goal?

Codiligent has a system to help with this goal - it's called Always Ready To Sell (A.R.T.S.). If you participate in A.R.T.S. the first step is for Codiligent to complete a comprehensive evaluation of your business. This evaluation is then used to provide you with an estimate of business value based on solid principles of corporate finance, and a strategic planning session to determine changes to consider for improving your business' marketability and value. If you would like assistance making changes, Codiligent can suggest experts to help you. After establishing a strategic plan, A.R.T.S. participants provide Codiligent with their monthly financial statements, and complete a short 10 minute worksheet. In exchange, Codiligent provides monthly updates of value to help track progress against your goal. At the end of each year, Codiiligent will meet with you to assess the prior twelve months progress and help you determine areas to focus on in the coming year.

Have you ever given thought to what goes into designing toys? In the following video Maria Quiban of MommyLovesTech.com takes a tour of a design studio located in Malibu, California of one of the largest toy designers and manufacturers in the United States, Jakks Pacific. In the tour Maria is shown the process of product conception, design, and prototyping. As much as I love being a business broker, the idea of making a career out of designing toys (particularly during the Christmas season) seems like a tough act to follow in terms of an interesting / enjoyable occupation - not to mention going to work at their fabulous office location across the street from the beach.

According to Jakks Pacific's annual reports (ticker: JAKK), while they've struggled a bit recently, since 2006 they have acquired a number of businesses, including two acquisitions in 2012. If you have a toy manufacturing company you'd like to sell that has $1-20 million in annual revenue (or any other business, for that matter) and you'd like a business broker who will actively market your business to strategic acquirers like Jakks Pacific, Codiligent can help you. All too often when business brokers represent companies in that size range, they do little more than general advertising. In contrast, Codiligent business brokers will research, screen, and actively market your business to logical strategic buyers nationwide whether they are in Portland, Oregon, in Boston, Massachusetts, or somewhere in between.

Can you imagine how much more difficult life would be for small businesses without some of the world's largest companies providing support services and products? What if there was no FedEx, UPS, Intuit, or Microsoft? As a business broker who represents small and lower mid-market businesses, I have a particular fondness for growth-stage entrepreneurial companies, but when I hear people disparage large companies I cringe because I see first-hand how the innovations and services that large companies provide are critical to the success of many small businesses. I believe that success of businesses at all levels tends to grow the available pie, not necessarily divide it up into winners and losers.

Before Fed Ex and UPS came along, the story of Santa delivering toys throughout the world overnight was simply a Christmas fairy tale - how could a toy be delivered from a small manufacturer to the doorstep of a house at the other end of the world in one day? Today overnight shipping is taken for granted. The following video shows the UPS Worldport in Louisville, KY during its busiest shift: 11 pm - 3 am the week before Christmas. They sort 350,000 packages per hour. Here's a glimpse into how they do it.

Do you like fruitcake? Usually around the holiday season there are jokes about fruitcake being an unwanted item perfect for re-gifting, something you use as a door stop, etc. I'm not a fan of traditional fruitcake, but the Italian version, Panettone, is an entirely different story. Yum! If you've not had it, you may be pleasantly surprised. Locally, Lovejoy Bakers sells it, as does Zupan's. If you'd like the back story, the following video gives insights into the business of making Panettone, where a Milan bakery that has been in business for more than a century uses a 500-year old recipe to churn out this holiday-season favorite, which sometimes sells for as much as 50 euros.

While I have come to understand that general business failure rates are greatly overstated (this is due to the mis-characterization of non-survival as failure - but this is a topic for another post), it still doesn't make it any easier for the person whose market has changed, regulation has increased, clients have been lost, expenses increased, or any other number of factors that have resulted in a business no longer being viable. Unfortunately, it is difficult for most business brokers and investment bankers to sell a distressed company. Even if it is priced very low, many buyers would rather pay a higher price for a business that they know is viable, then taking a risk on being able to turn a business around.

The video below is an inspiring story of a second generation cabinet maker, who after his business had been operating for 35 years, was unable to survive the recession. When faced with the prospect of unemployment or looking for a job working for someone else, and knowing he needed to support his family, he identified and pursued another entrepreneurial opportunity: manufacturing and marketing traditional wood toys.

In Normandy, France in the town of Fécamp is one of the most intriguing manufacturing companies I've visited: The Bénédictine Distillery. The secret centuries-old Bénédictine recipe is distilled in the basement of a beautiful art-filled gothic palace. I associate the taste of Bénédictine with Christmas. Maybe it's the spicy sweet herbal flavor that complements the smell of a Christmas tree, a crackling wood fire, and holiday music, but perhaps it's also the association with the mysterious origins of the drink.

In 1505 an Italian monk in the Benedictine order, Dom Bernardo Vincelli, was sent to Normandy, France with other Italian friars. Vincelli was an alchemist. While most people associate alchemy with the pursuit of transmuting base metals into silver and gold, another less well known goal of alchemists at the time was to develop a universal elixir that would prolong life. Vincelli developed an elixir using 27 herbs and spices. For nearly three centuries afterwards the Benedictine order in Normandy produced this elixir, until 1789 when the French Revolution occurred and the monks were banished resulting in the loss of the recipe.

Nearly 100 years later in 1863, while going through some very old family papers, a wine merchant in Fécamp, Alexandre Le Grand, came across an old recipe book, a manuscript dated 1510, which included nearly 200 pages written in Gothic script by a monk named Vincelli. Le Grand used this recipe to re-create the elixir.

After perfecting this recipe, the Superior of the Benedictine order in Rome, granted Le Grand the right to use the name and the coat of arms of the Benedictine Abbey in Fécamp. In tribute to Dom Bernardo Vincelli he called his liqueur BÉNÉDICTINE. The D.O.M. on the bottle is the motto of the Benedictines, standing for Deo Optimo Maximo (God infinitely good, infinitely great). It also refers to the Latin word Dominus (Master) given to Benedictine abbots.

I realize that Fecamp is a long ways from Portland, Oregon, but if you are ever in Normandy, France - I'd highly recommend taking a tour of the Bénédictine Distillery - it's a product manufactured in a unique way (see: Bénédictine D.O.M.). In the mean time, I hope you'll enjoy a glass of Bénédictine this holiday season. Here's to your health and a long life!

Did you know that Oregon is the number one state in the nation for producing Christmas trees for the rest of the world? McKenzie Farms, a family business near Oregon City is the 2nd largest grower of Christmas trees in the U.S., with more than 5,000 acres of trees. They will sell about 750,000 trees this year. Have you ever wondered what's involved with running a business like this? The following video is an interview conducted by KPTV with McKenzie Farms owner, Ken Cook, that will offer insights into the operation of such a high-volume holiday season business.

Do you own a seasonal business? Would you like to understand whether it might be marketable if you wanted to exit? Codiligent business brokers can conduct a Marketability Assessment that will provide you with concrete feedback to better understand issues you may want to work on that may be inhibiting the marketability and value of your business.

Did you hear about the 11-year old Portland Oregon girl, Madison Root, who went to her grandparents farm and cut up and packaged Mistletoe to sell near a local outdoor craft market to raise money for her orthodontic work? She was forced to quit selling her products because she didn't have a permit. While I personally believe that the government at all levels is excessive in its bureaucracy, permitting, and regulation (i.e. is it really necessary for the government to control and monitor someone selling Mistletoe for a few weekends), I also do think it is important that laws and regulations be uniformly applied so as not to provide unfair advantages for some, and not others. While it is admirable that this little girl took this entrepreneurial initiative, what if there was another business owner who was also trying to sell Mistletoe and yet they did everything by the book and had to absorb the cost and hassle of a city permit? Wouldn't that give young entrepreneur Madison Root an unfair advantage?

What struck me most about this story was the point that Madison made that there were others in near vicinity who were panhandling for money, some of whom were publicly advertising that they wanted the money to buy pot. As a society do we really think it's OK for people to be allowed to beg for money offering nothing in return, but where a little girl who goes to the effort of delivering something of value can not sell her product over a couple of days a year for a few dollars because she hasn't jumped through some meaningless bureaucratic hoops?

What do you think? Please comment below. Should Madison be allowed to sell her Mistletoe near Saturday Market without being regulated as a business, since she's selling a seasonal item for only a couple of days a year? Should she simply comply with the regulations? Should people be able to play music with a hat out for money or panhandle for money for drugs in the same location without a permit, while this young entrepreneur can't sell her product there? Do you think it would make a difference if she said she was giving away her Mistletoe for free, but suggested a $4 donation for her braces?

If you'd like to buy some of Madison's Mistletoe and support this young entrepreneur you can do so by visiting her new website and placing an order: http://madisonsmistletoe.com

It's the holiday season which means an abundance of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, and New Years Eve parties. While these can be great networking opportunities - the celebratory, more personal nature of these holiday events can make talking too much about business off-putting.

Jeff Schneider at Schneider Training Solutions, LLC has some tips on elegantly networking at holiday parties in his blog post:

Speaking of the holidays - if you are in sales (as all entrepreneurs are!) one of the most beneficial holiday gifts you could give yourself would be to sign up for Jeff Schneider's sales training. Obviously being more effective at sales can lead to greater immediate financial success, but what many people forget is that this also increases business value (not to mention that having a quality, repeatable sales system in place will make a business more marketable). Learn more at:Sandler Training